WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 10: Rock Spirit - [3]

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Seong Munyeong, who must have been watching from somewhere in hiding, shouted.

“He fights fucking well! Fuck, kill it just like that!”

Of course I was trying to.

‘Crash!’

I brought the hammer down with all my strength, and my body swayed. The elemental's shoulder, which I was riding, had jolted violently.

Then its shoulder exploded. A shotgun-like spray rained down on me. Concrete chunks and gravel scattered like grenade shrapnel, and even at a glance, their speed was insane.

In the hallucination, the elemental must have killed Seong Munyeong by punching holes through his entire body like this.

It was too fast to dodge, so I barely managed to shield my face with an arm. The next instant, shrapnel embedded itself all over my body, but I didn't die. It couldn't penetrate deep into a Body Enhancement user's muscles.

Then it didn't matter.

Pain spread from the stone fragments lodged in my flesh, but adrenaline quickly blew it all away.

I even forgot the sticky blood running down my skin in an instant.

No matter what it did, I kept swinging the Sledgehammer.

Its head had been gone for a while already. Every blow shattered and pulverized its upper body.

As I brought the hammer down again, the elemental thrashed. A hand large enough to fill my entire field of view reached out to grab me.

Naturally, that powerful swipe only passed through the spot where I'd been.

“Oh!”

I used Spatial Teleportation to get behind the elemental and struck the back of its knee, which had been exposed again. The part I'd broken earlier had recovered quite a bit in that short time, but not enough to withstand two hammer blows.

‘Crash!’

This time, I completely pulverized it. As it staggered after losing one leg, I shoved its back with my foot and knocked it over.

Then I smashed its exposed back.

‘Crash!’

Now it had neither a head nor one of its legs. A huge crack ran across its back too.

Of course, that wasn't enough to kill a monster like this. I could see nearby stone fragments clinging to its destroyed body parts like magnets.

Hadn't they taught us at the academy that elementals could easily repair bodily damage using nearby materials?

They'd also taught us how to stop that repair.

Destroy it faster than it could recover.

“Wow!”

Cheers that could have been amazement or relief had been coming from every direction for a while now. There weren't any screams. Apparently, it was obvious to everyone which side was overwhelming the other.

I raised my hammer once more and brought it down with all my strength.

「Don't!」

The elemental rolled across the ground while still sprawled out. Its movement was surprisingly nimble for something of that size and weight.

But it was useless. I used Spatial Teleportation to reach where it had fled and completed the swing.

‘Crash!’

I didn't miss.

Not once.

「Get away! Get away, you uneducated human!」

The elemental's stone body could no longer withstand the cracks. As it twisted in a desperate struggle, half its body collapsed.

By now, it seemed unable to maintain its balance even while lying down. It turned only its head toward me, then threw out a brutish punch.

Its strength was still murderous. The sound of the air splitting came with a boom like a bursting drum.

Naturally, the punch couldn't blow my head apart. This time too, I started the hammer swing, used Spatial Teleportation, and completed it somewhere its arm couldn't reach.

‘Crash!’

Starting a movement, using Spatial Teleportation, then completing it felt so natural and easy.

Why?

I hadn't originally been this good at Spatial Teleportation. I'd practiced steadily, but I was probably only at the level of an American who'd studied for a few days and had barely learned how to use chopsticks.

This was a skill I'd brought back from my dream self only minutes ago.

Was my dream self the same as my hallucination self?

No. That guy didn't have this much skill.

It probably came from a version of me further in the future...

Thanks to that, I was superior to my hallucination self in every way, even in muscle mass. My hallucination self had trained steadily too, but he hadn't developed muscles this explosive.

I brought down the hammer again with muscles swollen enough to threaten my joints' range of motion.

‘Crash!’

Stone fragments exploded outward, and its last remaining arm tore free from its body.

At this point, everyone seemed to understand that it was over. The scattered examinees had come closer, and even the examiner had approached to watch.

“What have you been doing this whole time? Filming? Are you crazy? What the hell are you doing at a time like this?”

“This'll all help later...”

Two spectators seemed to be arguing about something, but I didn't pay attention. Whatever they were doing, it wasn't going to help anyway.

I focused on swinging the hammer.

I hit the man-eating monster again and again.

The elemental's body broke down with every blow, shrinking it until only its upper body remained, without any limbs.

「Please.」

A face appeared at the very top of that upper body. It wasn't the chimpanzee-like face from before.

Lee Jongho, who had been watching nearby, recoiled in horror.

“Fuck... What's with this middle-aged woman's face?”

The wrinkled, bloated face of a middle-aged woman had suddenly appeared on the elemental's body. The woman spoke.

「Don't hurt me.」

It seemed to be begging for its life, but its appearance was more grotesque than pitiful. The way it spoke, so unlike a real Korean middle-aged woman, only made it more grotesque.

「I'll confess. I loved you.」

“What the hell is it saying?”

「I want to go to a love hotel with you.」

As the gathered examinees frowned, Im Hyeongtaek spoke.

“Oh, I know what this is. They say that after an elemental eats someone, it takes on the victim's memories until it fully digests them, right? It must've eaten some middle-aged woman, dragged up bits of her memories, and started speaking Korean.”

The other examinees began voicing their disgust too.

“Is that the face of the woman it ate? So that monster bastard is trying to seduce Kim Geuk with a middle-aged woman's face?”

“Is it insane?”

“They say elementals that look like this are stupid. It probably only figured out that the woman was female and is trying to seduce a male.”

“I feel like throwing up. It looks fucking disgusting...”

Poor woman. Since she'd been eaten in a place like this, she had probably been struggling through life as a homeless person. Yet even after death, she was just a subject of ridicule.

「Let's give each other free hugs.」

One hammer blow shut its mouth.

When I smashed that face, its body split completely apart and exposed what was inside.

Something translucent that had been hidden within finally revealed itself.

What was that?

I'd seen it in the hallucination.

Something like the elemental's true body.

“Die, you fucking bastard.”

When I crushed that too with the hammer, I felt something seep into me.

Then, a hallucination...

‘Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!’

Cheers rang out inside my head. The crowd was cheering for the victorious fighter.

I naturally knew where I was.

The UFC Octagon.

That day, I had stood tall in the Octagon as the winner. Everyone gathered there cheered as I raised one arm.

It was only my second win, not exactly a legendary record, but that day, the entire world felt like nothing more than a backdrop made for me. In that overflowing sense of fulfillment, I experienced visions of several fighters before awakening as a Body Enhancement user...

I was standing in that day's Octagon again.

The ecstasy I had felt that day was being recreated too.

Victory gave me strength. This wasn't just mental exhilaration.

The elemental I had defeated was being absorbed into me.

I'd heard of it before. The growth of awakened people. Just as Monsters and elementals grew stronger by eating people, awakened people could grow stronger by defeating enemies.

After savoring that ecstasy for a moment, I opened my eyes and looked around.

Reality wasn't any different from the hallucination. I was surrounded by a crowd cheering for me.

“Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!”

I raised my arm again, the arm holding the hammer, and declared my victory.

Look, I'm standing in the Octagon again.

I had returned to the place where I belonged.

The place from which I had once been unfairly driven out.

* * *

Even after the situation ended, it was hard to rest comfortably.

I took the person who had collapsed earlier to the hospital, then returned to the scene.

Then I got to work.

While the examiner, a Hunter Association staff member, was busy reporting the conclusion of the situation to the Hunter Association, I took my Sledgehammer and knocked away the concrete rubble blocking the emergency exit.

The hammer felt lighter than before, and swinging it was easier too. Was it just my imagination, or had my ability as a Body Enhancement user really improved?

It seemed like the latter.

I really hoped it was.

What about the other examinees while I worked?

“I feel awkward just watching from behind...”

The examinees, who had been nothing but cheering machines during the fight with the elemental, didn't have much to do now either. I had told them to stay back and use their phones, because trying to help would just be like people milling around an excavator.

Then again, what could I expect from unawakened trash that was nothing but Monster food?

Except for the people from Bupyeong Academy, of course. The people of sacred Incheon had an important duty to cheer for me, awakened or not...

Uh...

The thought suddenly startled me.

Why the hell had I just thought that?

Had the adrenaline not left my body yet?

“Finally!”

Before long, I broke through the emergency exit. As cheers of “Kim Geuk! Kim Geuk!” rang out again, I took the lead down the stairs.

People were waiting downstairs.

“Ah, what the hell?”

They were all carrying guns. They seemed to be a hunter team.

When the Hunters saw us, they asked with aggrieved expressions.

“Is the situation really over? We came running the second we saw the Hunter Call, then suddenly got a notification saying it was over. What the fuck is this? The gas money's such a waste.”

What the fuck had that bastard just said?

Was that Hunter pissed that the situation was over?

I clenched my fist. Those vermin were trying to ruin the mood I'd gotten from my victory.

As if he noticed my displeasure, Im Hyeongtaek whispered beside me.

“Hold it in. Hold it in. That punk isn't worth dealing with...”

While the examiner went over to soothe those punk assholes, Seong Munyeong muttered angrily.

“Are those bastards insane? We barely survived, and those fucking assholes are throwing a fit because the situation ended?”

Im Hyeongtaek seemed to feel the need to improve my mood. True to his nature of flattering me whenever he got the chance, he didn't miss this opportunity.

“Seriously, we really survived thanks to you, Kim Geuk. I'd heard you were a UFC fighter, but I never imagined you'd smash it to pieces in close combat without even using a Hunter Rifle!”

The other examinees gathered around me and began saying I was their lifesaver and all sorts of things.

My mood improved a little as I accepted all their praise with a calm expression.

Then one punk from the hunter team came over. The Hunter asked confrontationally.

“Did an elemental really show up? You didn't misreport something and make up a story, did you?”

Someone from our side stepped forward.

It was an unexpected person.

“Want to see what happened?”

It was Jeong Jinyeong, who always wore combat boots. I wondered why that loser had suddenly stepped up, but then he held out his phone for the Hunter to see.

“What is he doing?”

At my question, Kim Jinjun clicked his tongue.

“That guy filmed the scene earlier with his phone. I think he's showing them.”

“He filmed a video in that situation?”

“Exactly. I was getting annoyed, wondering why he was suddenly doing that. It's not like I could snatch his phone and smash it, either.”

The thuggish Hunters were watching the video Jeong Jinyeong showed them. They seemed to be watching halfheartedly at first, but even from where I stood, I could see them gradually getting absorbed in it.

“Oh... Fuck. That's awesome.”

After watching the video, the Hunters said one thing to me.

“You must be worth a fucking fortune...”

Then Jeong Jinyeong, having dealt with the Hunters, came over to me.

He always found it difficult to speak to me. He had spoken fairly clearly to the punk Hunters just now, but in front of me, he hesitated again before opening his mouth.

“I filmed the video... The video of you fighting earlier.”

“I know. Jinjun was talking behind your back, saying he thought you were about to make your YouTube debut.”

I had indirectly told him not to do weird things, but Jeong Jinyeong didn't seem to get it. He kept rambling.

“They sent out the Hunters as an emergency response, then canceled it, right? This is kind of a big deal, so I think reporters might come later. If you show them this video then...”

“The reporters will use it and write a nice article?”

The examiner slipped into the conversation.

“Come to think of it, our hero here hasn't received his awakened-person assessment yet, right? You haven't signed a contract with a local government either.”

“And?”

“Wow, you should buy the person who filmed that video a really nice meal.”

I couldn't understand why I had to buy someone dinner when I was the one who had done everyone a favor today.

I learned the reason the next day.

* * *

Footnotes:

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